Course Syllabus – Fall 2015A. Course Information

Course Number ECO 346

Course Name Foundations of Political Economy

Section 11

Credit Hours 3

Department Department of Economics

Campus Beirut

Meeting Time and Place Tuesdays & Thursdays 3:30-4:45pm; Room 1110 Business BuildingNumber of Hours per week 3

Tutorial Lab Hours 0

Course Description

This course introduces students to the major schools of thought in Political Economy, from the classical economists to Marxist, Keynesian, Neoclassical, Public Choice, Institutional, and the Austrian school economists.

Prerequisites None

B. Instructor Information

Instructor Name Dr. Saifedean Ammous

Office Location 1514 Business Building

Telephone Extension 2815

Email Saifedean.ammous@lau.edu.lb

Office Hours Tuesdays & Thursdays: 9:30-10:30am & 2:00-3:00pm

C. Textbooks and Content CoverageRequired Textbook(s) See syllabus

D. Goals, Outcomes and Learning Methods

The School of Business at LAU follows processes to assess and evaluate how well the school accomplishes its program educational goals and learning outcomes. These measures assist departments and faculty members to continuously improve programs and courses.

Program Learning GoalsBS in Business

BS in Economics

1. The graduate will possess knowledge of core economic principles, theories and quantitative tools.2. The graduate will have the ability to use economic analysis for the solution of business and organizational problems.3. The graduate will possess an understanding of the workings of economic policy instruments and objectives, and the linkages between the public sector and the private economy.4. The graduate will have the ability to use written and oral communication effectively.

LAU School of Business | Course Syllabus 2

Program Learning OutcomesThis course will be used towards fulfilling the following program learning outcomes.

BS Business:1.1 The graduate will demonstrate essential knowledge acquired in the field of economics.2.1: The graduate will be able to propose a solution to a business problem using quantitative and/or qualitative reasoning.

BS Economics:1.1: The graduate will be able to demonstrate knowledge of key economic principles and theories of the macro and micro dimensions of market economies.1.2: The graduate will be able to express economic relationships using graphical and mathematical tools, and to empirically examine such relationships using regression methods.2.1: The graduate will be able to propose a solution to a business or economic problem using qualitative and quantitative reasoning.3.1: The graduate will identify and evaluate the social and ethical implications of economic policy, theory and the market economy.

General Skills

This course will contribute to developing the following:

Analytical thinking (able to analyze and frame problems) Reflective thinking (able to understand oneself in the context of society) Application of knowledge (able to translate knowledge of business and

management into practice)

Teaching Methodology This course will be taught through discussion sessions revolving around the weekly readings. Students are required to do the readings every week, and submit reaction papers to the readings for 4 topics throughout the semester. The papers will be due on the first day in which the topic will be discussed in class.

Required Technology Skills Regularly check the course Blackboard page.

E. Performance Evaluation

Midterm Exam 30%

Reaction Papers 20%

Attendance & Class Participation 10%

Final Paper 40%

Total 100%

LAU School of Business | Course Syllabus 3

University Grading Scale

A letter grade will be determined based on the

University grading scale, as follows:

Grade Quality Points Guidelines over 100A 4 90

A- 3.67 87 - 89

B+ 3.33 83 - 86

B 3.0 80 - 82

B- 2.67 77 - 79

C+ 2.33 73 - 76

C 2 70 - 72

C- 1.67 67 - 69

D+ 1.33 63 - 66

D 1 60 -62

F 0 59

Course Syllabus

Week 1: Introduction to the course

Week 2 & 3: Classical Economics, Adam Smith

Butler, Eamonn. 2011. The Condensed Wealth of Nations and the Incredible Condensed Theory of Moral Sentiments. http://www.adamsmith.org/sites/default/files/resources/condensed-WoN.pdf

Coase, Ronald H. ([1976]) 1994. Adam Smith’s View of Man. In his Essays on Economics and Economists. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 95-116. http://www.chicagobooth.edu/~/media/59F2E558F3604398BBF9518FCF3EBC9E.PDF

Week 4: Classical Economics: Thomas Malthus & David Ricardo

"David Ricardo." The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics. 2008. Library of Economics and Liberty. http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/bios/Ricardo.html

"Thomas Robert Malthus." The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics. 2008. Library of Economics and Liberty. http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/bios/Malthus.html

Donald J. Boudreaux, "Comparative Advantage." The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics. 2008. Library of Economics and Liberty. http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/ComparativeAdvantage.html

Kremer, Michael “Population Growth and Technological Change: One Million B.C. to 1990”. Quarterly of Journal of Economics.108. 3 (1993), 681-716.http://www.econ.ucdavis.edu/faculty/gclark/210a/readings/kremer1993.pdf

LAU School of Business | Course Syllabus 4

Simon, Julian. Population Growth Is Not Bad for Humanity. http://www.juliansimon.org/writings/Articles/POPOPED3.txt

Week 5 & 6: Marxist Economics

Foley, Duncan. 1986. Understanding Capital: Marx’s Economic Theory http://ouleft.org/wp-content/uploads/Foley_Understanding_Capital.pdf

Marx, Karl, and Friedrich Engels. The Communist Manifesto. https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/download/pdf/Manifesto.pdf

Week 7 & 8: Keynesian Economics

Keynes, J. M. "The Great Slump of 1930," "Economy," and "The End of Laissez-Laissez-Faire." In Essays in Persuasion. pp. 126-50, 126-50, and 272-95. http://www.gbv.de/dms/zbw/73041079X.pdf

Keynes, J. M. Chapters 1-3 in The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money http://cas.umkc.edu/economics/people/facultypages/kregel/courses/econ645/winter2011/generaltheory.pdf

Krugman, Paul. Introduction to The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money by John Maynard Keynes. https://notendur.hi.is/gylfason/KrugmanonKeynes.pdf

Week 9: Neoclassical Economics

Becker, Gary. 1993. Nobel Prize Lecture: The Economic Way of Looking at Behavior. http://www.ssc.wisc.edu/~walker/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Becker1993.pdf

Friedman, Milton. Capitalism and Freedom. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1982, Chapters I, II, V, IX, X, XI, XII. http://www.pdf-archive.com/2011/12/28/friedman-milton-capitalism-and-freedom/friedman-milton-capitalism-and-freedom.pdf

Week 10 & 11: Public Choice Theory & Institutional Economics

Mancur Olson, 1965. The Logic of Collective Action http://outsidethetext.com/archive/Olson.pdf

Schumpeter, Joseph. Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy. Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 2008, PART II: Can Capitalism Survive? http://digamo.free.fr/capisoc.pdf

North, Douglas. Institutions. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 5(1): 97-112. http://pubs.aeaweb.org/doi/pdfplus/10.1257/jep.5.1.97

Week 12 & 13: The Austrian School

Rothbard, Murray. ‘The End of Socialism and the Calculation Debate Revisited’. The Review of Austrian Economics, Vol. 5, No. 2 (1991): 51-76https://mises.org/journals/rae/pdf/rae5_2_3.pdf

Hayek, Friedrich A. 1946. Individualism and Economic Order. Chapters I, II, III & IV. https://mises.org/library/individualism-and-economic-order

LAU School of Business | Course Syllabus 5

Rothbard, Murray. Power and Market: Government and the Economy. Capters 1, 2, 6 & 7. https://mises.org/library/power-and-market-government-and-economy

Barry, Norman. 1982. The Tradition of Spontaneous Order. Literature of Liberty 2(2), Summer, 7-58.http://www.econlib.org/library/Essays/LtrLbrty/bryTSO.html

Week 14 & 15: Review, Discussion & Final Paper Presentations

Last day of classes: Dec. 11, 2015

Deadline for withdrawal from the course with a “WI” grade: Oct. 8, 2015

Deadline for withdrawal from the course with a “WP” or “WF” grade: Nov. 13, 2015

F. Policies

Attendance Policy Students are held responsible for all the material presented in the classroom, even during their absence. Makeup work and exams, if any, will be according to the rules spelled out in the course syllabus.

Students can miss no more than two weeks of classes in any semester (one week for summer term) excused and otherwise, in any course, and still receive credit for that course.

Students who exceed the allowed number of absences must withdraw from the course; otherwise, the course grade will be recorded by the instructor as F or NP, depending on the type of grading in the particular course.

Make-Up Policy Missing an Exam Requests for approval of a make-up should be made within a week of the specified date of the exam. The requests will be approved for medical situations only if the appropriate medical excuse presented to the guidance office is deemed valid by the instructor.

Lost session due to instructor’s absence

All lost sessions will be made up. The specific date and time will be determined by the instructor.

Withdrawal Policy WI (Early Withdrawal) indicates withdrawal from the course, after the Late Registration Period and until the end of the 5th week of the Fall and Spring semesters, and until the 10th day of the Summer modules. It has no quality points. It does not count in the GPA, and no credits will be added to the student’s record.

WP (Withdrawal Pass) indicates withdrawal from the course, after the 5th week and until the end of the 10th week of the Fall and Spring semesters, and from the 11th day of classes until 18th day of the Summer modules. It has no quality points. It does not count in the GPA, and no credits will be added to the student’s record.

WF (Withdrawal Fail) indicates withdrawal from the course, after the 5th week and until the end of the 10th week of the Fall and Spring semesters, and from the 11th day of classes until 18th day of the Summer modules. It has no quality points. It does not count in the GPA, and no credits will be added to the student’s record, but is counted as repeat.

A Withdrawal Form must be submitted to the Registrar’s Office.

G. Additional University Policies

LAU School of Business | Course Syllabus 6

Student Code of Conduct

The provisions and stipulations of LAU Student Code of Conduct are applicable to all students taking courses in the School of Business, regardless of whether or not they are pursuing a degree in the School. Refer to LAU’s website for the complete policyhttp://www.lau.edu.lb/governance-policies/policies/student_code_of_conduct.pdf

Copyright laws Refer to LAU’s policy on Copyrights and Patents on the web or the academic cataloguehttp://www.lau.edu.lb/governance-policies/policies/copyright_patent_policy.pdf

Academic Dishonesty and Plagiarism

Students are expected to conduct themselves in accordance with the highest standards of academic honesty. Academic misconduct for which a student is subject to penalty includes all forms of cheating, forgery, or plagiarism. Plagiarism is defined as the use of someone else’s ideas, words, or work, as if it were one’s own, without clearly acknowledging the source of that information. Any student found cheating in an exam, fabricating, falsifying, or using any other form of academic dishonesty in the preparation of a paper or a project, shall receive a zero on that exam, project or paper and will be issued a Disciplinary Warning. A student found plagiarizing or cheating for a second time shall receive an F grade for the course, as well as a second Disciplinary Warning. Refer to the policy on academic dishonesty on LAU’s websitehttp://www.lau.edu.lb/academics/arp/g/rules_procedures.php

Policy on Incompletes A grade of "I" indicates incomplete work. This grade is exceptionally given by the instructor when a student, with a valid excuse, did not sit for the final exam, and/or did not present the final project. Students will not be entitled to an “I” grade, unless they have a passing grade of the completed material, throughout the course, and so long as they have not exceeded the allowed number of absences. Not completing the course or not sitting for Final exam does NOT entitle you for a grade of "I". A student will have to complete a request form for an Incomplete Grade and submit it to the School Academic Council with the necessary input from the instructor of the course.

Course Evaluation Completion of the online course evaluations is required. Students will not be able to access their course grades until they have completed the course evaluations.For Fall and Spring terms, the online course evaluations, by students, shall begin ten days before the end of classes and continue till end of reading period; for the Summer modules, said evaluations shall start three days before end of classes and continue till end of reading period.